1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



669 



wood as the manufacturers of bee-keepers' 

 supplies. The bee interests are only as a 

 drop in the bucket, and it would be hard to 

 get legislation that would prevent the 

 destruction of these trees.— Ed.] 



A GENERAL MIX-UP OF FOUR OR FIVE SWARMS 

 OF BEES. 



I have 100 colonies of bees, although but 

 a beginner. I did not want any increase 

 this year, so I tried the returning plan. One 

 day five prime swarms came out at the same 

 time and lit together. I hived them in three 

 new hives, and some stayed and some went 

 away. What would you do in such a case? 

 Next day they tried it again, and I thought 

 I would stop up the hive when they com- 

 menced to swarm, and let out one at a time 

 so I could return them. However, I would 

 let enough bees out to be sure of the queen; 

 and when they had all alighted together I 

 would hive them. Afterward I would look 

 and find three or four queens balled; then I 

 would destroy them and give the bees to a 

 weak colony. Was this the best thing to 

 do? They kept on swarming this way one 

 month (April) until the colony had nothing 

 hut drones left. What shall I do with them? 

 There was no brood left, so I broke them up 

 and put in prime swarms. Was that the 

 thing to do? J. Whitam. 



Kings City, Cal., May 8, 1905. 



[A colony that has been hived, and which 

 will not stay hived, will sometimes become 

 very balky. I have advised giving such a 

 colony a frame of unsealed brood after hiv- 

 ing, and taking them down immediately into 

 a dark cellar, "and keeping them there for a 

 day or two, where they will have a chance 

 to " cool off " and to give their own body 

 odor to the hive and frames. 



When a swarm has once been hived, and 

 then comes out again, it is useless to put it 

 back. It may stay a second time, but the 

 chances are that it will come out again. 



When several swarms come out at once, 

 and mix up, the only thing to be done is to 

 scoop dipperfuls of them into several hives. 

 The divisions that do not happen to get any 

 queens will be hable to swarm out again; 

 and it is well to watch carefully to see which 

 colonies are queenless. Queens can some- 

 times be found by balls of bees, for they are 

 so thoroughly mixed that a distinct queen 

 odor is lacking. As the bees are a general 

 mixture, each queen when separated from 

 the ball should be caged and introduced to 

 the bees in the regular way. 



I do not quite understand what you mean 

 when you say you broke them up and put in 

 prime swarms, unless you gave other swarms 

 to the hive which these bees originally occu- 

 pied.— Ed.] 



ENTRANCE UNDER THE HIVES. 



I can not help telling you how much plea- 

 sure my new bee-entrance gives me. The 

 bees enter under the hive. The bottom- 

 board is one inch shorter than the hive, and 



this makes the entrance one inch wide across 

 the hive. The bees are more contented, and 

 work faster in it; the robbers never trouble 

 them; the millers and flies do not trouble 

 them so much; they very seldom swarm and 

 go back— the queen must drop or fly; nei- 

 ther rain, snow, nor cold wind harms them. 

 I have also a one-inch air-hole in the back of 

 the brood- chamber near the top, with screen 

 tacked on, but it must be kept dark. 



John Winkler. 

 Springbay, 111., May 8, 1905. 



[In the early 70's the senior editor of this 

 journal used to have hives on a loose bottom 

 with an under entrance of the kind you 

 describe. The advantage of such an en- 

 trance is that it can be increased or de- 

 creased by shoving the hive backward or 

 forward; but as the majority of bee-keepers 

 now use fast bottoms, it is no longer prac- 

 ticable to use that kind of entrance. —Ed.] 



turning the entrances back when USING 



the sibbald non-swarming plan. 



We are running ten colonies on the Sib- 

 bald plan to test it; but we make this 

 change: When we make a shift of hives (or 

 jump) we turn the entrance to the back of 

 the stand until night; then reverse to front. 

 We think this change will make the method 

 a good one. M. A. Payne & Son, 



Detroit, Mich. 



[From the experience we have had with 

 the Sibbald plan, your suggestion is an im- 

 portant one, I should say. The weak point 

 of the whole system is that the returning 

 bees will find their old entrance. In order 

 to make it work satisfactorily the hives 

 should be turned right about face for a few 

 hours.— Ed.] 



bees killing drones. 



I wish you would tell us why the bees are 

 killing off their drones in this locality at this 

 time of year. J. T. Couch. 



Milan, Mo., June 3, 1905. 



[Drones during this past spring have been 

 killed off largely because of the backward 

 chilly weather and the scarcity of stores in 

 the spring. Bees, like ourselves, are some- 

 times compelled to economize at every point; 

 and when drones are killed off to any con- 

 siderable extent before a honey-flow, it in- 

 dicates pretty strongly a growing scarcity 

 of stores. —Ed.] 



Last July I had a hive that had white- 

 headed or bald-headed drones. The colony 

 is now in fair condition. What is the cause? 



Sparta, Wis. Bert Schmitz. 



[The drones described are what are called 

 "sports." We have had a good many re- 

 ports of vari-colored-headed drones. The 

 bright colors make them very pretty. — Ed.] 



